The centre of the north sea began rumbling. The underwater lake splashed its contents releasing a transparent milky white liquid, Yinglong held out his hand at the substance before immediately retracting it.
"What is it brother?" Zulong asked.
"It's the same material that made the saber, just more pure. Very cold," Yinglong said while showing his brother his palm. His gleaming scales were coated in a thin veil of ice and had lost some of their lustre. "It hurt me," he said.
Zulong narrowed his eyes. "How did you lot manage to mould this into weapons?" He asked.
"Why should we tell you?" One of the trapped north sea cultivators spat. Many of his comrades nodded in agreement while some appeared reluctant.
'Seems I've gotten through,' Zulong thought with satisfaction. However, he could not stroke his own ego at the moment. The dragon was unconcerned by the shaking but he was curious about the ice weapons.
"Should we tell him?" One of the bound cultivators asked.
"Are you insane? He's an innate god, their kind cannot and should not be trusted," The same old woman spat.
"But have you heard his offer? No innate gods had ever made something like that before."
"All innate gods are the same, they don't change," the old woman looked angrily at her comrades. "Have you forgotten what they've done to us, that they killed our young and enslaved us again and again for their own pleasure? That they turned our beautiful ocean into a frozen uninhabitable hellscape?"
"Uh," the north sea cultivators looked extremely unsure of what to do. They looked nervously at the dragon trio. Then they looked at the pile of gifts offered and couldn't help but feel conflicted.
"We diluted it happy?" A cultivator who grew frustrated at the silence said. He was promptly glared at by several others. "What's the worst that could happen anyway?" He challenged those glaring.
"I know you diluted it but the question is how? You cannot possibly touch the water without freezing to death," Zulong said hovering a droplet in his hand. The small droplet of water contained enough power to freeze an entire spiritual mountain range of the primitive world natural defences be damned.
Normally, mountains in the primitive world were large gathering spots of Qi. This results in incredibly high durability and resistance towards outside forces. Famed mountains like Yujing, Sumeru, Kunlun, and Yingzhou were all capable of withstanding alot of supernatural forces. This was why they made for amazing bases.
"Don't you dare sell our secrets," the old woman demanded. However, the cultivator who answered sighed.
"I think it's worth hearing this man out," he said.
"No innate gods can be trusted," the woman screeched.
Zulong frowned and said, "I said it once and I will say it again. The only difference between innate gods and you lot is that we're born Golden Immortals. I can help you all reach that realm." He patted his interspatial ring indicating that there were more than what he'd offered.
"Brother, the shaking has gotten violent," Yinglong called out.
"Deal with it yourselves," Zulong said.
"Alright then… wait Qinglong where are you jumping?" Zulong promptly ignored the two dragons in favour of hearing the cultivator's explanation.
"There is a crucible, made from the bones of a dead god. We crafted made it in hopes of creating a weapon strong enough to kill innate gods," he began
"Shut up fool," the old woman screeched. Zulong waved his hand and isolated her in a barrier preventing any sound from leaking through. "Continue," he said.
"Turns out, the corpse we made it from was very in tune with the cold. The lake was previously a forbidden zone but with the crucible, we can extract small portions of Pure Yin Pale water."
"Pure Yin Pale water?" Zulong interrupted.
"That's what we named it, after its colour and properties yes. Anyway, the crucible could only extract a small amount else it too risks destruction. The amount we could extract is about one tenth of what you're holding. We had to add it to a large basin of superheated sea water that's been cultivated by spiritual fire for over ten thousand years," he explained.
"So that's why you have so few of these," Zulong muttered rubbing his chin. He'd have to ask his master on how to deal with this water. However he knew he'd struck a goldmine, something needs to be done to hide it.
Elsewhere, Yinglong was freaking out as his younger brother just jumped into the underwater lake. Qinglong was immediately forced into his true form. The azure dragon grimaced as he felt an intense chilling force surround his body.
The underwater lake was much larger than the surface implied. It was like its own separate universe connected by a small hole. It was not only extremely cold but also filled with the screaming wails of ghosts.
However the dragon's physique cannot be underestimated. Qinglong could resist the water but there were difficulties.
"Who on earth would cultivate down here?" He wondered. His senses were bombarded by the screaming wails of the deceased forcing a grimace out of the dragon. Qinglong opened his mouth and roared forcing the wails back.
His cry rumbled through the lake to middling effect. He could also sense his own limit approaching. He could not dive any deeper than this and he doubts his brothers could do better. Perhaps Zulong can go further in but Qinglong couldn't for long.
The dragon gritted his teeth and looked around. He utilised the full might of his cultivation and forced himself forwards. He briefly caught sight of a coffin in the distance.
His sight was hazy and obscured by milky colour. But he could make out the rectangular shape of a coffin. It gave him a feeling of grave danger. The image of a Chinese crown was engraved on the coffin and some characters that were too obscured to see.
"What is that?" He wondered before forcefully shutting his eyes. He was assaulted by a chilling force, unlike anything he'd ever seen. The dragon immediately began retreating. However, he felt incredibly sluggish.
"Shit, perhaps I was a little too arrogant," he said in regret. His body felt sore and his scales were dim. The dragon felt his consciousness slipping.
"Oh dear," a worried voice called out. Qinglong could barely register this voice, nor did he feel the strong force pulling him up. "What are you doing down here?" The worried voice asked.
The dragon felt a wave of power wash over him. His clouded mind could not register it properly but this power formed a black barrier that blocked out the Pure Yin Pale water.
"Who are you?" Yinglong's enraged voice said admits gurgling water.
"Ah fellow daoist, I am Xuanwu. I found this fellow daoist while I was waking up," the same worried voice said. They seemed entered into a conversation that Qinglong could barely understand. His mind was still very sluggish.
"Here, let me look at him," Zulong's voice said. Qinglong felt a strong force enter his body.
"What the!" Qinglong exclaimed and gripped his head in pain. "Heavens, what was that?" He said in pain.
Zulong knelt beside him with silk talisman in hand. He put the silk talisman away and helped his brother up. "What were you thinking?" He lectured.
"I thought I could handle it," Qinglong said.
"And now we had to waste one of master's talismans, well done. Be careful next time. Investigate and plan before charging in head on," Zulong lectured before turning to Yinglong. "I would criticise you but I too am at fault for not paying enough attention."
"Thank you fellow daoist for rescuing my brother, what may I offer in return," Zulong said cupping his hands and saluting to Xuanwu. It was then that Qinglong finally noticed a fourth individual standing nearby.
It was an androgynous looking man dressed in all black with light green hair like algae. He was either an extremely feminine male or a boyish female. Either way, Qinglong felt an instinctive connection with him. Almost as if they were brothers.
"Greetings fellow daoist, I am Xuanwu," he said amicably. "There is no need to thank me. I saw you in need of aid and helped you. There was not anterior motives."
"Is that so?" Zulong said narrowing his eyes.
"Indeed, I was sleeping when I felt a very, let's say familiar feeling that I couldn't quite put my finger on," Xuanwu said tapping his chin. "Either way, I would've helped, I desire nothing in return."
"I trust his word brother," Qinglong said. "Believe me when I say this, fellow daoist Xuanwu's words hold no falsehood."
"If you say so brother," Zulong said with a nod. "You say you were sleeping? Inside that lake?" The elder dragon asked Xuanwu.
"Indeed, soon after my birth, I found this cool refreshing lake and thought I'd take a nap. It was a good sleep," Xuanwu added.
"Impossible, we would've noticed if an innate god snuck in," a chained cultivator said. "We were sure you were a newborn about to take form."
"No one was here when I came," Xuanwu said. "Though I must thank you, your seal was a very soothing addition to my nap."
"Soothing? You weren't trapped?" An old Heavenly Immortal gasped.
"Trapped? Should I be?" Xuanwu asked confused. He looked around his body for any oddities but found none. He shrugged with an unbothered attitude.
"Fellow daoist is very carefree," Qinglong said.
"And lazy," Yinglong added. "Who sleeps for tens of thousands of years? Why not cultivate to a higher realm?"
"But I did cultivate!" Xuanwu exclaimed. "Look, I'm a Great Unity Golden Immortal as well," he said much to the surprise of Yinglong.
"It makes sense, he could resist the underwater lake," Qinglong said before being interrupted by Zulong's "Pure Yin, Pale water."
"What he said, anyway thank you fellow daoist for your help," Qinglong cupped his hands and saluted in respect. He and Xuanwu began talking as if both individuals knew each other their whole lives.
"What's going to happen now?" A trapped cultivator said. As soon as he said that the cloud chains dissipated.
"Now you go free, I told you we meant no harm," Zulong said. The formerly trapped cultivators nodded except for a few who were itching for their weapons led by the old woman.
"I Zulong shall return and when I do it will be the establishment of my empire. I trust you'd join?" He asked with a smile.
"There is still emperor Si Hai to consider," the cultivators said.
"I'll take care of him eventually," Zulong said. "My master repelled him once. It is only natural for the disciple to get rid of him for good."
Far away, at the farthest edge of the north sea, where water met endless void. In a land filled with thick cloudy mist, Da Hai sat on a floating cushion of water observing the events. The head moth fairy hovered beside him wearing a thick woolly coat.
They were beside a titanic structure many billions of kilometres tall and many billions of kilometres wide. An unimaginably big island that even Da Hai could hardly comprehend. It was covered in thick fog that obscured all but its ruff shape.
"Hm, they sure handled things alright," Da Hai said with a small smile while stroking his beard.
"Yes, the young lord was quite impressive," the moth fairy stuttered through shivers. "How long would we have to stay here old lord?" She asked.
"Until they choose to depart, you can use this time to train your cold resistance," Da Hai said and continued observing the dragon's movements.
"Aren't you paranoid?" A deep rumbling sound asked him through the mist.
"It is natural for a master to monitor his disciple's progress," Da Hai answered.
"To stalk them across the world? You are a very benevolent master to your disciples," the deep voice rumbled. Da Hai frowned.
"Keep your comments to yourself Ao," he reminded.
"Heh heh heh, you can't trick me," the deep voice laughed amused.
"You barely know me," Da Hai said.
"It is obvious on your face," the deep voice replied. "Little fairy, why don't you come and live on my back? Your master seems to be getting a little grouchy."
"No thank you lord Ao, I will accompany my lord till the end," the head moth fairy said. "Besides, such an environment is good to train my fleshy body," she said.
"Heh heh, suit yourself. Don't waste away your life away, live freely and explore the wide world out there. Not like me," the deep voice said amused yet sad. The thick fog was brushed away to reveal a massive turtle head. Ao, the most primordial turtle and one of the ancient chaos godfiends of old. A survivor cursed with a fate worse than death. Unable to move from his stationary location. Unable to do anything but stay in the north most corner of the north sea.